Lute lay on the sofa—a distressed leather chesterfield Alden Thorn had been very easily talked into buying during their dorm decoration shopping spree—and stared up at the copper-painted antler light fixture.

If I were rewriting the story of my life, he thought, would I affix Shaper of Water right there in the hallway at school?

Haoyu was telling Alden animatedly about all the traditions surrounding the graduation pins. He was of the opinion that shock from the eighth grade student body had rendered Lute’s reveal day less joyful than it should have been. Lute hadn’t minded at the time. It had felt right to him, even if the congratulations from his peers had been more confused and subdued than they would have been for most people.

The day had been an ending and a beginning. He hadn’t been in the frame of mind to want more from it than that.

“Everything that happened next,” said Lute, “makes me sound so dumb. I don’t know how to say it without making you both think I’m pitiful.”

Maybe if he just stuck to the facts. Ruthlessly.

“I went to see Cyril right after school. The word had been spreading through my mother’s side of the family for a few hours, but nobody had called him. I’m sure they wouldn’t have anyway, but just in case, I had texted Jessica when I realized the news was out, telling her I wanted to talk to him myself. It was hard.”

Dad, it doesn’t have to change anything. Please. I don’t want it to.

…I need some time to think, Lute. Thank you for telling me. Thank you. Why don’t you stay with your mom tonight?

“He’s still taking some time to think,” said Lute, “about whether or not he wants to be my father. It’s been a year and a half. I suppose he’ll get around to deciding one of these days.”

The apartment had gone quiet. I hope I’m not traumatizing Haoyu. His parents seem so functional and loving. And…shit…Alden’s died horribly so I guess I should be careful not to whine about mine too much.

“I’d been getting interface calls from every Velra ever spawned since noon,” he continued. “If I was the System, I’d have teleported Hazel’s parents and Corin to the bottom of some oceanic trench. They must have been standing around chanting, ‘Call Lute! Text Lute! Call Lute!’

“I blocked them. They couldn’t believe I would do such a thing. Apparently we’ve got a Velra rule about not blocking each other because ‘What if there’s a family emergency!?’”

Roman had texted him right as school was letting out. If they give it to you, make her pay.

Grandma or Hazel?

Yes.

“The talk with Dad really messed me up. I was so mad.”

Not mad. He didn’t know why he’d lie about the emotion. Mad was what he was about it now. At the time, he’d been scared.

He’d stood in the elevator of Cyril’s building, going up and down whenever someone boarded the car, wondering if he’d just lost his dad forever and trying to figure out if it was the parentage or the fact that he’d gotten something Cyril had always wanted for himself. Or did I say something wrong when I was telling him? Maybe different words…

“When I finally left, it was ridiculous. Hugh, Cady, and Corin were parked outside in the Bentley. Roman’s dad was there glaring at them from his motorcycle. Miyo and a couple of the other cousins were standing on the sidewalk. The neighborhood watcher for that area was an Adjuster, and she was making herself obvious, standing out in front of the library with a look on her face that said she was ready to turn some Velras inside out if they started anything.

“As soon as I stepped outside, they stampeded me. They were all like, ‘What wonderful news! You might not know this, but I told the maid to change your diaper once when you were six months old and that makes us incredibly close. Now do exactly as I say.

“Jessica was ahead of them, though. She’d sent a driver to take me to the helicopter. Hugh tried to get in the car with me, and I told him to go about his business. Politely.”

******

******

“Grab my arm one more time and I’ll scream for help,” Lute said as he swatted at Hazel’s father with one hand and tried to close the car door on him with the other.

“Now listen to me, young man!”

“No! I won’t listen to you. You freaking lunatics drove all the way here from Apex to jump me! Don’t you put your hand in this car!”

“You’re being ridiculous, Lute. You’re going through a difficult time right now and you need guidance—”

“Help!” Lute bellowed, so loudly that the driver swore. “I’m trying to leave, and this man won’t let me! He’s not my guardian! I barely know him.”

Hugh’s feet shot out from under him. Cady, who’d been about to get into the backseat of the car from the other side, shrieked as her husband was lifted by the ankles into the air. He dangled there, flapping his arms and babbling excuses while the Adjuster charged with keeping the neighborhood family friendly stalked over. She was pushing up the sleeves of her gray uniform, and she looked deeply annoyed.

Lute went still in his seat. Corin was straightening his tie, like the watcher was going to take him more seriously if he did that. Roman’s dad was cackling next to the fire hydrant. Half of the cousins looked startled, and the other half looked delighted.

“Are you all having some kind of trouble?” she asked in Mandarin. She directed the question to Lute, probably because she knew he lived here sometimes. He had seen her in the area occasionally.

“My mother called this car for me. Only for me. These people are trying to get in it with me when they’re not supposed to,” Lute said in the same language.

“We’re his family!” Corin said quickly in English. “It’s not like we’re strangers.”

“That’s right!” Hugh was still dangling in the air. “We’re just trying to help him. He’s—”

“A moment away from being an Avowed,” said the Adjuster, crossing her arms over her chest. “He’s flashing a name tag andthere’s a non-Avowed notice, which means he’s recently been selected. Congratulations, by the way.”

“Thanks,” said Lute.

“Why do you all seem to think someone who’s about to make some of the biggest decisions of his life needs your help for a little car trip?” she said, leaning down to look at Hugh with a menacing expression. “Hmmm?”

She made a humming sound and gestured, and Hugh was flipped onto his feet again. The damage was done. People were watching curiously through apartment windows.

Cady pulled up the collar of her coat like that might hide her from view.

“Buckle your seatbelt,” the watcher said to Lute. “Have a nice afternoon.”

I could be an Adjuster, thought Lute as the car drove away. I wonder what types of spells she has? It could be binding spells, and that one just happens to lift the target off the ground. It didn’t look like she messed with gravity.

There were so many different methods that wonderful lady could be using to punish his family. She was probably just giving them a talking to, but Lute liked imagining them all hanging upside down.

The happy thought was short-lived.

Dad…

If I just give him time, it’ll be all right. Won’t it? Obviously he didn’t suspect at all. And he’s upset. It’s a lot.

Lute hoped it wasn’t too much.

What if Mom’s just as upset?

She had texted him several times, but it was all very business mode. Yes, you can go see your father. I’m getting the helicopter arranged. There will be a car for you. Don’t make any sudden decisions. Come straight to me. Are you all right at school?

What if neither one of them want a son who’s different from them in this way? How would I feel if one of them suddenly became Avowed?

He rested his head against the window. The answer came to him immediately—Like they’d left me behind. Like they’d gone to join the rest of Anesidora.

Lonely.

Was his mother feeling like that right now? Would she look at him differently when he walked through the door?

If neither one of them want me like this, I think it might kill me.

Car to helicopter. Helicopter to Narcissus House. A bit absurd just to shave minutes off the travel time, but at least Chainers couldn’t fly. If they could, they’d be up here trying to drag him out of the helicopter.

Hazel’s family really did want me to affix before Grandma got back from the Triplanets. They’re worried about her position more than they’ve been letting on.

And Roman’s dad had been there to tell him not to affix until Aulia got back.

None of them had even asked him what class he actually wanted. Corin had just started shouting the names of things he could get his hands on very quickly.

Lute watched the city and the sea pass by below him.

He kept checking his cell phone and his interface for messages, hoping to see one from Cyril that said not to worry. Or a single emoji would be enough. Not even a heart, just a thumbs up. A wink.

The helicopter landed, and Lute headed toward the back of the house with his coat over his arm and a feeling close to terror making his stomach roil.

Mom will be okay with it. She will. She’ll have advice, and she’ll help me figure all of this out. She’s probably working in Grandma’s office right now. I’ll go see her, and tell her every—

The sliding door that led from the sunroom to the outdoor kitchen opened, and Jessica Velra stood there. She was wearing the dark green sweater Lute had bought her for Mother’s Day and a pair of jeans. She had on the ugly slide sandals she loved but only wore when they were unlikely to have guests. Her white blonde hair hung down in a side braid.

She’d been crying. She was still crying. The mascara she used to darken her lashes sometimes had run. Her cheeks were wet.

Lute stood still, more afraid than ever before in his life.

Mom, no. Please don’t. It’s all right.

He meant to say the words out loud, but he didn’t.

Then she was running toward him, her arms outstretched, and Lute couldn’t even drop the coat before she was embracing him.

“Mom, what—?”

He stumbled. Before he knew it, his butt was on the grass, and Jessica was on the ground right beside him, still hugging the life out of him.

“Look at you,” she sobbed in his ear. “Look at you, baby. You’re an Avowed! I’m so happy.”

“You are?” Lute asked. “Really?”

“You’re beautiful,” she said, leaning back and cupping his cheek with a hand. “You’ve always been so beautiful. Things have been hard for you. It’s my fault. I’m sorry. I was afraid they’d be hard forever, but they won’t now. Lute, you’re going to be all right.”

What? “Mom, I’ve been fine.”

“I was selfish for wanting you so much.” She stole his pocket square and wiped at her face with it. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“From falling in the grass?”

She chuckled. “I know. I’m being silly. I’ve seen Selection happen to how many other people? But now it’s you and the first thing I thought was, ‘I hope the Contract is careful with him! I hope it didn’t scare him!’”

“It scared the shi—stuffing out of me.”

“It did?”

“I didn’t even believe it was happening until an hour later.”

She stood and pulled him onto his feet.

“…Mom, you’re really happy?”

The terror was fading. Relief was replacing it.

She smiled and reached for his hand. “Lute Velra, this is the happiest I’ve been since the day you were born. I’m proud of you.”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

Despite how some people seemed to feel, being an Avowed wasn’t something you earned. Still, he couldn’t help returning her smile.

“Come on!” she said. “Come with me. We need to talk before your grandmother gets home!”

******

Jessica’s joy at Lute’s selection was infectious. He hadn’t once had a similar emotion about it himself, and after a week of feeling every way but pleased, he gave himself permission to relax a little.

“Okay, okay!” he said, brushing the crumbs from a brownie off his shirt and leaning toward her just as eagerly as she was leaning toward him. They were sitting in a pair of pink velvet armchairs inside the expansive walk-in dressing room that connected her bedroom to Aulia’s, and they’d set the panic protocols just so that they wouldn’t be able to hear relatives knocking.

Lute was enjoying imagining some of the particularly toxic ones out there, throwing themselves stupidly at the walls of what was effectively a bomb shelter again and again. Like zombies.

“So the first person other than Kon sees my pin, and they say something to their friend, and then it goes all through the hall. And it gets quiet except for a couple of older students who are like, ‘Hey! Awesome! An eighth grader’s wearing a pin!’ And they’re all trying to figure out if I really got selected or it’s some kind of stunt, and then Mrs. Sharma comes down the hall juggling all her bags and a pile of supplies. She just stops and stares at me for ages, and she doesn’t notice her mug is tilted in her hand and she’s dripping that Artonan flower tea she likes all over the floor.

“Finally she realizes her foot is getting wet, and she snaps out of it and she just drops everything she’s carrying on Declan without even asking—like he’s a catch-all table!—and she hurries over to make sure that I’m not doing anything stupid. She seemed to think I might have gotten overwhelmed and started affixing right there by the lockers.”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t a great student when it came to the Avowed stuff, but I’m not that ignorant.”

He’d been a quarter of a second away from becoming a Wright out of curiosity, but did that need mentioning?

“So then they all knew it was real! And this gossip wave hit the school, and…it was weird but fun. People kept staring at me like I had become a completely different person overnight.”

His mother was beaming. Her hands were clasped over her heart.

“I wanted this for you,” said said in an emotional voice. “All your life, I wanted you not to have to go through what I did. I wanted you to have everything, but I couldn’t be sure.”

“You weren’t sure…of what?” Lute asked cautiously. He didn’t know if wanted the answer.

But she still loved him. They were still a team, hiding out here in this giant closet from all the other Velras. Nothing else could matter as much as that.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be Avowed or not.” Jessica reached for his knee and squeezed it. “Growing up assuming I was—all that endless training and preparing, and then…it was gone. I hated myself. I hated myself for years. I couldn’t let it happen to you. If you didn’t know, you couldn’t be hurt like that. If you didn’t know, and something wonderful happened, it could only be a blessing for you.”

Lute’s chest felt tight. So it was a lie then. She thought maybe I could be…but she told me never. My whole life was built on that lie.

Her face was a mess from the crying.

She thought she would be Avowed. Aulia designed her to be one. Trained her. Told her she would be strong.

And then she wasn’t.

Then she was the assistant.

Lute knew these things about his mother. But in his eyes, she was somehow above them. It had never occurred to him until this second that she might be thinking about his life and future this way.

I thought we were the same. Me, her, and Dad. But that’s not right. They grew up…like everyone else I know. Like Avowed.

Not like me.

“You understand, don’t you?” Jessica said in a rush. “You’re old enough to know. I couldn’t raise you like the rest of them. I couldn’t let you live that way, training for a future that might not happen. I wanted you to have everything I didn’t. School, hobbies, a childhood, no fear at all about disappointing me…you could never disappoint me…and then, maybe, it would come to you like this. As a gift. And I never imagined…S. Baby, you’re going to be an S-rank! For the rest of your life, nobody can take that from you.”

“Oh,” said Lute, still feeling like someone had stolen the last few crumbs of solid ground out from beneath him. “Mom, I know you love me, but this is—”

A lie. Wrong. I don’t know what the right thing would have been since you only thought I might be an Avowed, but you got it wrong. The whole world hurt me every day because of your lie.

But she was so relieved. She’d been crying all afternoon…because she wasn’t afraid for him anymore. He couldn’t say something that harsh.

“I really wanted to be the best harpist in the world,” he said softly. “I was proud of that. I wanted that.”

You made me want that.

“You can be that, can’t you?” Jessica said, beaming at him. “You can be that and so much more now.”

Lute’s phone, on the little table beside the plate of brownies, buzzed and he snatched it.

Dad?

It wasn’t. Of course. Somehow Miyo had gotten hold of his phone number, and she wanted to know what he was about to do.

“They’re so wrapped up in themselves they can’t even imagine I might not care about Chainer,” Lute said. “They assume everyone is just as obsessed with the class as they are.”

Jessica took a deep breath. “Don’t get your hopes up, but Grandma might consider giving it to you. She wants to put the most powerful family member possible in front of the Artonans, and Hazel—”

Lute snorted. “It doesn’t matter if she’s considering me or not.” He was still staring at his text messages, willing a new one to appear. “I made a list. Chainer’s not that high on it. I know there are some positive things about it, but the fact that it’s held mostly by people I hate shoves it way down in the rankings.”

“Lute, you don’t hate your grandmother.”

He considered that. “I think it’s really close to hate,” he said. “What’s hate, but with less passion? Hate but in a way that’s less, ‘I want you to die,’ and more, ‘I want to never see or think about you again’? Because that’s the feeling.”

A fair feeling, he thought, considering how she treated them.

Jessica blinked.

“I traded into Shaper of Water,” Lute said. “Mom, I wanted to talk to you about Rabbit and Adjuster and see if we could to swap to one of those without Corin’s help? Or with it. He seems extremely eager to help. I’m not sure I want to. I’m not ready to make the decision. I think I need a professional class and career counselor. A lot of my classmates have them.”

“Shaper?” Jessica said. “S-rank Shaper? I know you used to admire them, but…”

“I know, I know,” Lute said quickly. “It’s probably not the perfect thing. I just need time to figure it out. If you get good with it at S, you don’t really know what you’ll be summoned for or how often. And I assume I’ll want to be talented with whatever class I have? But there’s something about it. Even holding it feels better than Wright did.”

“Don’t affix until we’ve figured this out together!” Jessica said quickly. “I think you might change your mind. Even if you take Chainer it’s not like you have to stay around the family members you don’t like. Your grandmother would expect you to drop out of school and study under her, but—”

“No.”

“But you wouldn’t have to,” she continued. “You can still go to school wherever you want. You can play your harp. Don’t make any hasty decisions.”

“I’m not going to.” Lute reached for another brownie. “But there’s nothing Grandma can say that will convince me to take Chainer.”

His mom blinked again. Her smile turned a little strained. “I know I never encouraged you to like wordchains. In fact, I discouraged you from it because I didn’t want anyone to take too much of an interest if you seemed good at them. But they are useful. And the safety…Lute, it’s a class that will never have to worry about…about being sacrificed in some awful foreign battle or—”

“But there’s Rabbit, Mom.”

“Chainer can make you as much money as Rabbit, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No,” said Lute. He paused. “I hope she does want to give it to me. So I can tell her I don’t even care about her special, mysterious class. I guess maybe she could convince me to take it if she gave me Libra…no not even then. Maybe if she gave me the Healer.”

He was being a touch dramatic. He’d heard someone say once that Libra, with all of its magical modifications and comforts, was worth more than everything else Aulia owned combined.

“The Healer?” Jessica said. “What do you—?”

“The rejuvenation person.” Lute couldn’t stop the anger from slipping into his voice. “The one she’s got the deal with. Him. I’ll take him, and she can give me any class at all.”

“Lute, it’s important to think seriously about this kind of thing. I know the family hasn’t been friendly to you. In general. But you can’t throw the rest of your future away just to spite them.”

Lute swallowed his last bite. “I am being serious. Mom, I know we don’t talk about it, but you’re not even on the rejuve list. You’re not important enough for that? You’re not important enough, but Keiko is? I’ve met her twice! She doesn’t even like the family. And Cady? Cady gets to stay young, and she and Hugh are the ones who…who…”

Who talk about you like that in front of Hazel. Who tell her that you pick up garbage for the other members of the family.

“They were trying to climb in the car with me when I left Dad’s!” he said instead. “I had to yell for the watcher on duty to get them to leave me alone, like a kid in a public safety video!”

Jessica’s expression had gone blank.

Lute gripped the velvet arms of the chair. “We deserve better. You deserve better. I don’t know if I’m going to like being Avowed. I can’t imagine it. It’s like someone else’s life has landed on me and squashed my plans into dust. But even if I hate having the System in my head, even if I can’t ever leave this tiny little trap of a country, the one good thing is that there are more Healers here. And as an S-rank I can eventually get money with our without Aulia’s help. By the time I’m out of school, I can get some kind of job. And I’m going to make sure I don’t have to come to dinner here in the mansion a hundred years from now and look at Grandma’s face and wonder why she gets to be here when you and Dad aren’t.”

He’d used up all the oxygen in his lungs on that little speech. He drew in a breath.

“I didn’t know you were worried about that kind of thing,” Jessica said in a strange voice. “Not at your age.”

“You’re my mom,” Lute said. “And Dad’s my…he’s Dad.”

She folded her hands over her lap.

“All right,” she said after a minute. She cleared her throat and switched to her all-business. “We’ll talk this all through before you have to make a decision. When both of us are just a little calmer. When your grandmother gets back home with Hazel.”

Lute slumped in his seat and sighed. “It’s been a long day.”

“It sounds like it. Did Hugh really—?”

“He did. Like a crazy man.” Lute shook his head. “And Cady was coming with him! What were they going to do? Beat me up in the back of the car and force me to affix right then and there?”

Jessica frowned. She tapped a polished nail against the side table. “I think we’ll have a party tonight.”

“What?” Lute said.

“The whole family. Even the more distant relations. Maybe some friends as well. Lydia.”

Lydia? It took Lute a second to place the name, and when he did, he was surprised. “Orpheus’s mother?”

Hugh’s ex-wife. The S-rank Strength Brute he had divorced for Cady.

“Yes, I don’t think Hazel’s parents will have any time to bother you tonight with her around.”

“Do I have to go to this party?” Lute asked.

“You do,” his mother said. “The point is to surround ourselves with people in order to prevent incidents. Until your grandmother gets back from the TC and reminds everyone of their duties to the family. It should be late tonight. Besides, who else would the party be for on this particular night?”

“Me?”

“Well, yes,” said Jessica. There was a glint in her eye that Lute had never seen before. “I seem to remember making you attend two Coming of Age parties for one of your cousins. Wouldn’t you like to have one of your own?”

******

******

“Did you have horses at your party?” Alden interrupted, grinning.

“Horses?” Haoyu asked.

They were both sitting on the rug now. Alden was petting it. Lute didn’t think he realized he was doing it.

“Do you seriously think I had horses running in circles around the mansion just to remind Hazel of her bizarre taste in party entertainment?”

“Did you?”

“No! It was very last minute. And honestly it wasn’t fun. I was tired and stressed, and people I didn’t like were flooding me with handshakes, advice, and demands. They were all so fake…” He shook his head. “Jessica asked me what kind of party I wanted, and I had no idea. I was like, ‘A fourteen and a half birthday cake? Music. Some candles maybe. Dad to come.”

He grunted. “Not that I actually said that last part out loud. Mom’s good at putting on events, though. Sometimes Aulia’s just in the mood for one, so she throws something together. She had an Adjuster come and blast the lawn with spells so it felt like summer, and there were food trucks parked all over the place. Street musicians took turns playing from one of the balconies. Nobody beat me up or Swayed me into affixing, so I guess it worked.”

“We should throw you another one,” said Haoyu, watching with interest as Alden stroked the fluffy rug. “So you can actually enjoy it. Coming of Age parties are supposed to be fun for the person having them.”

“I’m going to be sixteen in January.”

“So?”

“I’m too old. I don’t want one.”

“I want a birthday party,” Alden said. “I’ve just decided. I’m having one. My last one was memorable, but I would like to make the next one more run-of-the-mill.”

“What did you do for your last one?” Haoyu gave the rug an experimental pet of his own.

“I picked all the vegetables I was sure weren’t poisonous from the greenhouse at the lab, and I made something that looked like seven-layer dip out of them. Then I put on a Hawaiian shirt and ate it on the roof with Kibby. I taught her about candles and she enhanced the tradition. Everyone gets to take turns blowing them out.”

Lute exchanged a look with Haoyu.

“That sounds…peaceful?” Lute suggested.

“I thought I did a pretty good job. I sang. We looked out at the corrupted grasslands of Thegund and talked about whether or not the lab lights would last through the long night. I did some parkour.”

“You guys both need normal birthdays bad,” Haoyu murmured.

“I didn’t sing at mine,” said Lute. “But I did play a song.”

******

******

Lute Velra had a little voice in his head that told him to be careful about revenge.

He didn’t feel great about how it had gone last time. A couple of people had cried.

He stared really hard at an accordion player and ate onion rings out of a paper cone. He was hoping the mix of his apparently intense focus on the musician, his smelly breath, and the fact that he’d hidden his name tag and put on a ball cap would protect him from his relatives for at least a few minutes.

This party was full of some of the most blistering family interactions and vitriolic backbiting he’d ever seen or heard. None of it directed at him, of course. Goodness no!

Everyone was his friend tonight.

The Roman supporters were spoiling for a re-match, and they would take up Lute’s banner whether he had agreed to have a banner or not! And the Hazel supporters were losing ground, but they still kept finding time to swing by and let him know that Chainer was just the worst. Really. He’d had no preparation. If Aulia decided to offer it to him—not that she would ever do such a thing!—he was going to struggle and find it so terribly dull and didn’t he want to take another class?

Any other one? They would go kidnap some innocent fifteen-year-old for him and deliver them tied up like a present if he wanted.

Grandma and Hazel are going to come home to this.

I don’t think she has tears inside her. She probably weeps acid. But still…I think I should have said no to this lunacy. We could have hidden out with someone trustworthy. Mom was just mad about them trying to strongarm me.

Then his phone rang. He started to reach for his pocket, then he stopped.

“System, can you send that to my interface?”

He had to start learning the features.

A familiar face appeared, floating in a circular window at the top center of his field of vision.

Hazel’s brown hair was braided into a crown. She was wearing a black dress with a white collar and cuffs. She was standing in a toilet stall at the TC.

Lute recognized the tile work on the wall behind her because he’d recently blown his nose in front of it for a while.

“Lute, hello,” she said. She sounded very professional, like this call was a meeting they’d scheduled ages ago. “Congratulations! My phone is full of news about what’s happened. This is wonderful. Grandma and I are so excited for you.”

“Thank you,” Lute said in an equally professional voice. He’d had a couple of hours worth of practice thanking people when he didn’t mean it tonight. He was all warmed up.

“I hear you’ve got Shaper of Water. That’s a wonderful class. You’ve always liked…swimming.”

Little fumble there.

“Thank you,” Lute said again.

“I was thinking…this is so crazy,” said Hazel. She licked her lips. “At work today, there was a woman who reminded me of Aunt Jessica—”

“Are you really going there?”

“No!” Hazel said quickly. “Listen, this is important. There was a woman who reminded me of Aunt Jessica…because of her personality. She was having a hard day today actually, and I helped her come to terms with it. I do that sometimes when I’m visiting our friends there. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. But I wanted you to know, she reminded me of your mother and you, and I thought…it’s terrible that I never apologized to you. I shouldn’t have said those things to you—”

“Which time?” Lute interrupted.

“What?”

“Which things are you apologizing for saying?”

Say them aloud to me right now. Any of them. Any one of the thousand things. I dare you.

“…you know, you were right when you yelled at me at my little Ascot party. I was so immature. I should have apologized, but instead I said what I did. I don’t think of you and Aunt Jessica that way. I never have. I was just upset and confused.”

A toilet flushed in one of the neighboring stalls.

“Thank you, Hazel,” said Lute. “For apologizing like this. See you when you get home.”

The helicopter should be there at the TC waiting on them now.

What’ll it be? Half an hour maybe if they’re slow. That’s enough time.

He hung up. He found his mother laughing behind a food truck with Orpheus’s mother, Lydia. Hugh’s ex-wife was a brunette with a very noticeable hourglass figure. Lute knew at once that he’d never seen her around the house before because he would have remembered her. She was striking. Magnetic in a way that made him think high Appeal, though that wasn’t necessarily the case.

If he remembered correctly, Lydia was a Strength Brute. One who’d gone through one of the Apex leveling programs…so she’d wanted to be a superhero or something like it at one point.

Cady was also extremely curvy and brunette. Lute wondered if Hugh had a type.

“Mom, I’m going to be in the formal living room for a while. I’ll take Aimi with me.” She was around here somewhere, taste-testing the food.“Grandma and Hazel are back.”

“I know. Your grandmother texted.” She checked one of her smart watches. “Is currently texting, in fact.”

“I’ll be in there when they get back to the house.”

“You aren’t enjoying the party?”

“There’s a song I want to play. I need to warm up.”

******

Lute left Aimi to enjoy a tray full of fried food and skewered meat while she guarded the door to the living room.

He practiced the song until he was sure of every note, and then he kept playing, trying to breathe some life into it. It had been a while.

He didn’t have long to wait.

When Aulia swept in with a delighted smile on her face and Hazel scuttled in after her with a strained one on hers, the room was dark. The only light came from the windows and from the lamp over the sheet music.

“Hello, Hazel,” said Lute from his seat at the piano. He didn’t look away from the music. “Do you remember the name of this song?”

The name tag floating over his shoulder said, “Lute - The Least of the Velras.”

He doubted his grandmother even remembered saying it, but the idea would still come across.

“This is Gymnopédie 1,” said Lute, his fingers delicate on the keys. “It’s my mother’s favorite song. It’s almost painfully beautiful. And every time I play it…I have to think of tissues in trash cans. Thank you for that.”

He finally looked up at her. His fingers kept moving.

“Don’t worry about the Ascot party. It was so long ago. You were only fourteen.” He paused. “Oh. Wait. That’s the same age I am now.”

******

Small, wet feet slapping on the decking as Lute chased after a beachball. A bare adult foot stopping it for him. An anklet covered in sparkling charms that made him pause for a curious examination.

And a fragment of the anklet-wearer’s conversation with another family member, overheard but filed away in the back of his mind. A grown-up artifact on a day filled with more interesting things for a young child to think about.

“Everyone thinks Aulia’s attempts to find signs and omens within magical occurrences is a weakness, the one crack in an otherwise indomitable nature. They’re wrong.”

A gasp. “Aunt Hikari! You don’t really believe in it, too, do—”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Hikari. “That’s what nobody seems to understand. It doesn’t matter if such signs exist. It doesn’t matter if Aulia reads them correctly. She thinks they do and that it is possible to interpret them, and that frees her from one of the bonds that hold most of us back.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Fear. And the inertia it breeds.” She nudged the ball toward Lute. “Once Aulia is sure magic is pointing her down a path, she takes it. Her own certainty in the supernatural provenance of her course reduces the obstacles in her way. So she tends to arrive at her destination when by all rights she shouldn’t.”

Stubby fingers wrapped themselves around damp vinyl. Lute stood and turned back toward his pool.

“There aren’t many people strong enough to halt the momentum of someone who believes she has deciphered the voice of her god.”

******

Aulia Velra stood smiling beside the piano bench, her hair shining a deep honey color in the lamplight as Lute finished the song.

“Lute, my dove,” she said. “Aren’t you spectacular tonight! I didn’t realize you’d kept up with the piano at all. I thought you and Angela were more of an exclusive couple.”

Startled, he looked at her.

She knows the name of my harp? He was sure he’d said it in front of her a few times. But he would have bet the price of Angela that she wouldn’t have bothered to remember.

The name tag that said “Least of the Velras” was floating beside his head for a reason.

“I haven’t really kept up with it,” he said. “It’s just not that hard to go back to a song you used to spend so much time on.”

“Mmm,” Aulia said. “Congratulations. I am truly overjoyed to learn that all my heartache over your future was wasted.”

“I don’t believe for one second that your heart ached for me.”

She touched his cheek. This close, she smelled faintly of jasmine.

“I know you don’t,” she said. “That’s my fault, isn’t it? I’ve been gifted with more talented young grandchildren than I can keep up with. That doesn’t mean I don’t love every last one of you. But sometimes I turn around and realize you’ve gotten so big in the last few blinks, and I wasn’t paying attention.”

She sounds sincere. How unsettling.

“Grandma,” said Hazel, “you’re not going to—”

Aulia’s eyes didn’t leave Lute’s face.

“Hazel, sweetheart. I know the difficulties you’ve been facing. And you should know, your position in my heart and in this family could never be in jeopardy. You may be the most uniquely gifted person on all of Anesidora. You will be a Chainer.”

Hazel straightened. There was just a hint of smugness tinging the relief on her face.

“Let’s go for a little trip,” said Aulia. “Just the three of us. I’ll drive.”

In the ensuing moment of silence, the noise from the party filtered into the room.

“You can drive?” Hazel and Lute both said at exactly the same time.

They frowned at each other.

“Good grief, you two,” said Aulia, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I’m the reason Anesidorans drive on the righthand side. Just because I haven’t done it in a while doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how.”

“But…how long has it been?” Lute asked. He had never seen his grandmother operate a vehicle.

“I got my license renewed fifteen or so years ago. So it was just the other day! We’ll take the Bentley.”

She drove them to the apartment. It was a quiet trip except for one of the local news streams playing through the car’s speakers. They were talking about upgrades that had recently When Aulia pulled up to the building and passed the keys off to a valet, she raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

“Good job,” said Lute. “We are alive.”

“Grandma, can you teach me how to drive?” Hazel asked.

“Corin can teach you,” said Lute. “I know, because he drove your parents over to my dad’s place today so that they could all accost me.”

She glared at him. “Your da—”

“I’m not interested in hearing the two of you bicker,” Aulia said, making the tossing gesture at the building’s doorman that she used to automatically send argold tips through the System. “You’re family. Act like it.”

Should I start speaking a language Hazel can’t understand? That would be very familial, as far as this family goes.

When they reached the penthouse, it was empty. Aulia’s residences were rarely empty. There was always some family member enjoying the luxuries. Maybe everyone was just back at the party, but Lute thought it was more likely she’d called ahead and cleared the place out.

She led the way into the apartment, kicking off her shoes and dropping the Artonan-style widesleeved coat she’d been wearing on the foot of a chaise lounge. The lights, operated by a command from her interface, came on then dimmed. And the giant windows framing two sides of the apartment’s main living area turned opaque, blocking the view of the skyline.

“Sit wherever you like,” Aulia said, tying her hair back with a ponytail holder she’d pulled from her pants pocket. Blue tattoos peeked out of the sleeveless cream-colored top she was wearing—the back of the shoulder, her chest, her waist.

Having seen her in a swimsuit, Lute knew the geometric patterns interlocked, making a network over the left side of her torso. The newer ones were smaller than the older ones, but just as intricate.

One for every Velra who wore one of their own.

“Let’s have a little tutoring session,” said Aulia. “A special one. We’re going to learn a wordchain together. The name’s nice. <<The Eye of a Thousand Instants>>.”

Hazel perched herself on the center of the sofa.

<<I’ve never heard of that one?>> she said in Artonan. <<What kind…?>>

“An old one,” said Aulia. “So old it’s decrepit, you might say.”

Hazel drew in a breath. “But if it’s like that…it won’t…and won’t we get in troub—?”

“I know what I’m doing,” Aulia replied. “And why would we get in trouble? If one of you forges half of the chain, I will make sure the other half is forged to meet you. It’s simple. Let’s see if we can’t wake it up.”

“I haven’t agreed to this,” Lute said. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about, and I don’t really do wordchains.”

“Ha!” said Hazel in a vindicated tone, as if he’d just confessed to eating boogers instead of not fooling around with the family hobby.

“And what does this one even do? Maybe I don’t want to see a thousand instants.”

“It’s nothing that grand,” said Aulia. “If you get it right, it will give you long distance vision for a moment. There are other chains with similar effects. This one was just designed in a way that makes it unusual…and undesirable to certain people in decision-making positions. So you won’t find it in any book. Hazel won’t find it in any of her books either.

“Actually, it’s not in any of my books. It’s that far removed from the world we work in.”

Hazel gasped.

Lute looked between the two of them. They’re so melodramatic. I think they enjoy it.

“It’s a special acquisition of mine,” Aulia said. “And the words and signs aren’t very difficult, Lute, so Hazel’s advantage will be slightly reduced. It’s uniquely suited for a little friendly competition.”

“What’s the other half do?”

“You won’t have to pay it.” Her smile widened. “I took care of Hazel’s debts for the chains she cast on her Coming of Age. It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t do the same for you.”

Coming of Ages, thought Lute. Plural.

He went to the bathroom and texted his mother. [Grandma wants me to learn some ancient vision wordchain. It’s a competition thing with Hazel.]

[Good luck! You’ve got this!] Jessica texted back.

Not what I was getting at. He texted Aimi. [Grandma wants me to learn some ancient wordchain. It’s a competition thing with Hazel. This isn’t some kind of trap is it?]

After a few seconds, Aimi replied, [Run! Run for your life! :) Just kidding. She does this kind of thing all the time. Cousin versus cousin battles make us all feel even more loving toward each other as we grow up.]

Lute sighed.

[Spending hours watching you fumble around in Artonan is a really inconvenient murder method, don’t you think?] Aimi added.

[I didn’t think she was going to kill me. But why does she have to act so spooky about it!?]

[Vibes.]

Well, it’s fine. Not like I even have to try the chain seriously if I don’t want to.

He was sure this whole plot was designed to boost Hazel’s confidence and reassure her.

Yeah, that’s it. Here, Hazel. I know you’re feeling bad about being sixteen, and half the family is mad about Roman. Crush Lute at your favorite game so everyone still knows you’re above him.

The wordchain Aulia taught them was, as she’d said, simple. Simple-ish anyway. Twenty words. Some gestures. They weren’t allowed to practice everything all at once. Instead they had to do it in out-of-order sections.

“When you decide you’re ready to try a full cast, let me know,” she said brightly after she was done teaching. “Only one attempt each!”

“Only one?” Hazel asked.

She seemed displeased with this wordchain. She kept looking at Aulia and saying, “That’s it?” with regard to the gestures and words. Like she wanted it to be harder.

The translations for the words that had appeared on Lute’s interface indicated that the wordchain would do what Aulia said. It was about seeing really far anyway. He’d written the words phonetically in English with notes on pronunciation quirks out to the side. Aulia’s chaining had a pleasant chanting rhythm to it as well, and that was helping.

Artonan—bad.

Songs—good.

Hand gestures—it wasn’t like playing the harp, but he was pretty decent at getting his fingers to do what he told them to when he told them to.

Hazel, apparently worried about giving him any advantages, was refusing to practice out loud. She was just moving her lips silently and staring off into space.

Lute discarded the page on which he’d written the definitions of the words, because trying to remember what it all meant was unnecessary, wasn’t it? Just make the sounds right and convey the idea.

Hey! Give me some long distance vision for a second. You’ll be paid back.

No reason to be all formal about it.

But be sincere, he decided.

Did wordchains care about sincerity? He doubted it. Hazel could do them after all. But they sounded like they were supposed to be sincere, so he’d claw an advantage where he could.

Hazel was definitely going to beat him at this strange little game Aulia had decided to invite the least of the Velras to participate in now that he was looking less least.

This is quieter than the party was anyway.

When he thought he had it memorized, he waited. No way was he going first. He wanted to make sure he saw Hazel try it.

She was glancing at him, too, as if she was thinking the same thing.

I can outlast you, thought Lute. Because I don’t want to prove myself as much as you do.

He grinned at her.

“On the off chance that you both succeed, the first person to do it successfully wins,” Aulia said from where she was typing on a laptop nearby.

Hazel leaped up. “I’ll go first!”

“What are we winning anyway?” Lute asked, not moving an inch.

“You can pick the menu for the next month,” said Aulia. “Anything you want. How does that sound?”

“With Kabir?”

“Unless we’ve gotten another chef.”

That wasn’t a bad reward. Hazel hated spicy food. Lute hadn’t gotten to eat Kabir’s version of Jamaican jerk chicken in forever.

He still let Hazel have her attempt first. Aulia took her over to the windows and removed the opacity from them. She had Hazel look out over the skyline.

“Begin,” she said.

To Lute’s surprise, his grandmother started casting what appeared to be the opposite half of the wordchain just seconds after Hazel started hers.

So much for listening to Hazel for pronunciation tips.

It sounded like a mess with both of them chanting it.

Hazel finished. Aulia was watching her closely. She suddenly stopped casting mid-word and let her hands drop.

“You did very well, dear. Your casting was flawless,” said Aulia.

Hazel’s hands were clenched at her sides.

“You always take such offense when this happens. Relax. Everything will come to you in its own time.”

She looked back at Lute. “Are you ready?”

“Sure,” he said, pushing himself up off the couch. “Why not?”

He stepped over to join her by the window. “What am I supposed to look at?”

“Whatever you like. Something in the distance is best. It will only last a moment, so why waste it?”

“If it works, you mean,” Hazel muttered.

Lute fixed his eyes on the farthest point he could see from this height. Past streets and rooftops and spires, past Nautilus Needle, to a small light in the distance on the water.

He performed the wordchain, tuning out Aulia’s simultaneous performance with ears used to ignoring some of the more offensive members of the youth orchestra.

The words were just sounds to him. The hand motions were a dance that went in time to the song he was making. He tried to sincerely want to borrow something so that he could see the pinprick of light out there.

He didn’t feel anything special happening. There was no headache or psychic event. Just him doing the thing as well as a tedious night of practice would allow for. He pronounced the last syllable.

And then…

The thing he’d assumed was a boat wasn’t. He could see it clearly, as if darkness and distance didn’t exist. It was the moon. Not the real moon, but a big gleaming moon nonetheless, brought to life by someone’s illusion magic and hanging over the water like a giant lantern. A man and woman bundled up in coats and earmuffs suddenly appeared from what should have been the dark side of their giant moon. They were arm-in-arm, flying around it slowly.

“That’s got to be the most Apex date that’s ever happened in the history of dating!” Lute exclaimed. “Which one of them is doing the flying and which has the illusion spell?”

He blinked, and he couldn’t see it anymore.

He stared out at the city and the tiny light over the water that was no longer a mystery. “Wordchains can do that?” he asked in surprise. “That was really Longsight level—”

There was a thump behind him that caught his attention, and he turned to see Hazel hopping on one bare foot. She was clutching the other and grimacing.

Did she just kick the sofa?

He said, “Kicking things is its own punishm—”

“Shut up!” Hazel spat. “Just shut up!”

“I see now.” There was something in Aulia’s voice that made Lute forget his cousin. One of her hands was pressed to the window. She closed her eyes. “Or rather I don’t.”

Her expression was soft. She turned to face Lute unerringly, even with her eyes shut.

“So this is what I’ve been blind to.”

******

It was four days later when his mother woke him in the night.

He struggled his way out from under the sheets, adrenaline flooding him at the urgency in his mother’s voice, and the tablet he’d fallen asleep with came to life, showing the last website he’d been viewing.

Class and career counseling services. He’d found one that seemed cool. He was going to ask his mom to set up an appointment. He wanted to talk about Shaper and Rabbit. And Adjusters with illusion abilities—the moon date was just a little too striking to get out of his head, so he wanted to find out more about the path that would get him that kind of spell.

“What is it?” he asked, staring into Jessica’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“You need to get dressed,” she whispered. “Don’t be too loud. This is your chance.”

“Huh?” he whispered back.

She was holding out clothes for him. Jeans and a t-shirt with Beethoven’s face on it. “Hurry,” she said. “Your grandmother’s waiting. We don’t want her to change her mind.”

“Is she still…you know. Can she see again?”

Lute did not like that weirdass wordchain she’d taught them at all. It wasn’t anything like the ones he’d ever heard of, even living in a house full of Chainers. The bad portion seemed way out of line with the good one, and wordchains were supposed to be equal weren’t they? Was that one glimpse of a superhuman date night worth days of blindness?

What it did seemed off in the first place, and Hazel was all like, I bet you feel smug, but don’t think something like that is going to get you any respect from people who matter!

No wonder it was some kind of forgotten antique.

“She’s fine,” Jessica said. She went to stand by Angela Aubergine. “Dress. Quickly. Don’t make too much noise. If the others wake up they’ll interfere.”

“Interfere with what?” Lute pulled the shirt over his head and started yanking on the jeans. A pair of sneakers and socks were already on the bed.

“Chainer,” Jessica whispered. She was staring at the harp. “You’re getting it.”

Lute paused with a sock in his hand.

“I don’t want it. I told Grandma I didn’t. I told her before she could even ask me outright if I would be interested.”

Actually, he had said something more panicky about crazy old Avowed doing creepy wordchains they’d probably gotten from the kinds of wizards who had bodies decomposing under their beds.

But he was sure the “no thank you, I’ll have none of that” had come through loud and clear.

Jessica let out a single puff of laughter. “Yes. You surprised her. In a positive way, maybe. You do..it’s a good thing if you can stand up for yourself a little bit in this family. We have some strong personalities.”

Lute wasn’t putting on his socks.

“I said no. She can’t make me take a class I don’t want. I’ll just…I’ll affix Shaper even if I’m not ready.”

He wasn’t sure he was brave enough to do it. He really wanted time.

His mother looked back at him. Her face was suddenly very composed. “Lute, just talk to her. Chainer’s a good class. And I think…I’m sure she’ll make it worth your while.”

“If I do this, then can we go to the career counselor tomorrow?”The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Jessica didn’t answer for a moment. “Yes,” she said. “We can do that.”

“It isn’t far from Dad’s place,” Lute added. “I might stop by again. He didn’t answer my voicemails.”

He stuffed his feet into the shoes, then he followed his mother through the mansion, down the curving staircase into the White Parlor, through it and down a hall to Aulia’s office.

Jessica stopped outside the door.

“You’re not going in with me?” Lute hissed.

“Why? Are you scared of your grandma?”

“No.” A little.

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, baby. More than anything else in the whole world. You can do this. You’re going to be great.”

Now Lute felt embarrassed for making her say something like that before a simple conversation with his own grandmother. He stepped through the door.

Aulia was at her desk. Four globes—one Earth and each of the Artonas—stood on wooden pedestals behind her. A fluffy gray cat was sitting in her lap, purring as she stroked it.

Persia had been dropped off by Orpheus a few years ago. Lute wasn’t sure whose cat she was officially, but her heart belonged to the housekeeper.

Aulia stood and set her on the floor. She stepped out from behind the desk. “Well?” she said, holding her arms out and spinning in a slow circle. “What’s the verdict?”

Teal sleeveless mock turtleneck. Batiked harem pants. Low-top sneakers. Large wooden hoop earrings and a wooden armlet. Her hair was in a French braid.

“Early 1970s Universalian,” said Lute. “They wanted to look Artonan but cooler.”

“Bingo!” said Aulia, putting a hand on her hip. “They also wanted to look as different as possible from those fogeys who were hankering for a return to the 50s.”

“I don’t want Chainer. Give it to Hazel.”

His grandmother heaved a dramatic sigh and flopped back down into her rolling chair. She crossed one leg over the other.

“You know, Lute,” she said, “I’m sure the Artonans could tell me if Hazel was an S-rank. Or they could have told me you were. Maybe not the minute you were born, but surely before you were this age. If the System knows, how could they not? But they have very stubbornly refused to give me any information like that. In fact, they get ridiculously offended if I ask. They seem to think having such answers might lead me to rear young minds improperly. A rather backward point of view considering how all of this has gone.”

If the Artonans had told her about me years ago, would I have spent all my time locked away with her and Hazel? Lute shuddered.

“Jessica…” Aulia frowned. “Your mother seems to have held a similar sort of opinion without me realizing. If she had acted differently, if she had given me some inkling that you might be Avowed…you would’ve faced less trouble. I would have insisted on teaching you. As you aged, I would have noticed you were above average, I’m sure. Some children surpass others through effort even though they lack talent, as your mother did. But when talent is present it always shows itself eventually. Cream rises, as they say.”

She arched a brow at him. “To be frank with you, Lute, I haven’t given up on Hazel achieving S-rank. So I hope you’ll take it as a compliment that I wish to give you the position over her. You haven’t had any of the training I prefer to give our new Chainers before they’re presented to the people of the Triplanets, but as your mother points out, you’ve proven you’re capable in other ways. You speak two foreign languages, you are accustomed to long hours of practice with your harp, and your casting of such a rusty chain was fateful. Don’t you think? I selected that one because I knew it would be. Magic has so obviously chosen your cousin, I was blind to the fact that it has also chosen you.”

Yes. That was a completely sane way to decide how valuable family members are.

“An S at fourteen,” Aulia said. “Do you know how many people have called to congratulate me on you? And there have already been tasteless questions about your origins. I would expect a smidge of jealousy and misdirected anger from fools and their mediocre children for the next few years. Take whatever idiotic accusations they throw your way as compliments. And, of course, you’re my grandson. You’ll suit Chainer well.”

Lute swallowed. “Are you saying that the family won’t help me get any other class?”

“Does it sound like I’m saying that?”

Aulia opened her desk drawer and took out a deck of tarot cards. They had been in there for as long as Lute could remember. When he was little, he’d asked her if she believed in them, and she’d said of course not. They were just useful for putting her thoughts in order. Only an idiot would take them seriously when real magic existed.

He still didn’t know what to make of that.

She laid the first card on the table. “What is it you think you hate about Chainer?”

“I don’t want to be around most of the people who have the class.”

“Get an apartment,” said Aulia. “Lock the door and tell the family members you don’t like to go away.”

Does she not realize that includes her?

“I don’t even understand what it is you all do when you’re summoned.”

“You’ll be wonderful at it! It’s simple. You go, you use Mass Bestowal until it doesn’t work anymore, you meet lots of people who are very excited to see an important Avowed, and then you come back home.”

“Anyone can do wordchains,” Lute said. “I know you learn extra ones—”

“Anyone can do wordchains, yes. But do you see many people running around using them as often as we do? The System will adjust you in ways that make learning them so much easier. And you’ll be able to give them to other people. Master a few highly desirable ones, and you can make a fortune of your very own if you like.”

“It…” Lute hesitated, “…Chainer doesn’t feel very much like magic.”

Aulia looked up from the Ten of Swords. “What?”

“Grandma, if I’m going to have magic—” after thinking I couldn’t for so long, “—I’d rather it do something more obviously magical.”

An illusion of the moon. Flight. A swimming pool’s worth of water obeying his command. Even something like Roman’s new lost item finding skill.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about right now,” Aulia said. “In a couple of seconds, I could pass you a chain that would make you as strong as an ox. What’s not magical about that?”

Lute shrugged. “It’s just how I feel right now. Chainer sounds okay, but it’s not my favorite. If you’ll help me get other classes, that’s great. If not, I’ll take Shaper of Water.”

No thanks. I haven’t enjoyed being a Velra of Great Worth for the past few days. I’ll make my own way.

He felt good saying it.

When his grandmother didn’t answer, he decided it was fine for him to declare the meeting over himself. He turned to leave.

“I’ve heard you claimed you wouldn’t take Chainer unless I gave you Libra. Or Horatio. Don’t you have expensive tastes?”

The bitterness stirred. Lute was afraid if he turned around, he’d yell at her. And he didn’t actually want to make her that mad.

Aulia was the ultimate authority in his life and, more importantly, his mother’s. She always had been. Even if he could get an apartment and lock her out of it…it would be a while before he was out of school and able to work. It would be a while before he had the resources to completely sever ties without risking things that mattered more to him than his own pride.

“You can have Horatio.”

Lute spun. “What?”

Aulia’s smile was gone. “Imagine. Asking me for a whole person. A Healer. I almost admire you for it.”

She set aside the deck. “You say Chainer is ‘okay’ with you, so you don’t actually dislike the class that much. That’s enough. You’ll see its benefits once you have it in hand. You can’t have the entirety of Horatio, though, no matter how…interesting I find the request. You can have one hundred and forty years of youth restoring treatments for whomever you like, whenever you’d like. A decade of rejuvenation for every year of your own life. It’s not like his talents control things on a literal year by year level, but we can approximate the amount. What do you think?”

Lute didn’t think anything at all. His mind had gone blank.

Aulia crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

“You…” said Lute, his voice cracking. “You’re just….you’re going to give me one hundred and forty years worth of rejuvenation treatments. To do whatever I like with? When you won’t give…”

His neck was hot. Jessica might still be right outside the door. He dropped his voice to a fierce whisper. “When you won’t give Mom anything?! She does everything for you. She’s the hardest working member of the entire family. And just because I got an S—”

“An early S,” said Aulia. “A very early and auspicious S.”

“I don’t care how early it was. I don’t care if I was born with the letter tattooed on my ass!”

“Oh, you’re old enough to swear at your grandmother now. Precious.”

You monster, thought Lute. You’re an awful monster of an old lady and if there was a magic power to suck all of the youth and beauty out of your face, I’d use it on you right now.

“I’ll make my own money,” he said. “I’ll make enough to get a rejuvenator myself.”

“I’m sure you can,” said Aulia. “You’re clearly very angry, but since it’s for the sake of your mother, I won’t hold it against you. I promise, on the day you have enough money and connections to force your way onto a rejuvenator’s waiting list, I’ll applaud you. How long do you think it will be?”

Lute stared at her.

“Eight more years of school before you can work full-time. But maybe you’ll be summoned often, and that will really speed you along in terms